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Newsletter Dated November 2, 2009 Dear Vacations To Go Customer, In the past decade or so, cruise lines have sought to give passengers more flexibility in when and where they dine. Alternative restaurants are now available on virtually every large ship and many smaller ones, while open-seating options have been introduced on numerous ships. Here's a quick look at today's shipboard dining scene. In the "traditional" dining scenario, passengers are informed of their seating assignments for dinner upon boarding. Dining times and table size are based on requests made at the time of booking, but on most ships they are not guaranteed. Guests are assigned to a specific table in either the early (around 6 or 6:30 p.m.) or the late (around 8 or 8:30 p.m.) seating. Passengers dine with the same tablemates and are served by the same wait staff each night of the cruise. Many passengers prefer traditional dining because it gives them an opportunity to get to know their tablemates and wait staff, and it allows the wait staff to learn preferences and anticipate requests after a night or two, leading to more personalized service. On the other hand, assigned seating forces passengers to plan activities around their dinner time, which can be inconvenient on days when the ship is in port. Cruise lines offering traditional assigned seating in the main dining room during dinner include Carnival, Celebrity, Costa, Crystal, Disney, Fred. Olsen, Holland America, MSC Italian Cruises, P&O, Princess, Royal Caribbean and Voyages of Discovery. Cunard offers assigned seating to passengers booking certain accommodations. Most small-ship cruise lines, plus several large-ship ones, offer open seating in their main dining rooms. Ships with open seating operate their main dining rooms much like shore-side restaurants -- the dining room is open for dinner during set hours, and guests may dine when and with whom they please during those hours. This dining style allows guests to choose their tablemates (or dine alone) and vary their schedules as desired. On the other hand, some feel they do not receive the same personalized service since the wait staff changes each night. And, as with busy restaurants on shore, guests may have to wait to be seated and service may be a bit slower during the most popular dining times. Cruise lines that offer open seating in the main dining room include Azamara, Carnival, Celebrity, Cruise West, GAP Adventures, Holland America, Hurtigruten, Norwegian, Oceania, P&O Australia, Paul Gauguin Cruises, Princess, Regent, Royal Caribbean, Seabourn, SeaDream, Silversea, Star Clippers, Uniworld, Viking River Cruises and Windstar. Certain accommodations on Cunard ships allow passengers to dine when they wish, but they are assigned to a particular table throughout the course of the cruise. Several cruise lines -- Carnival, Celebrity, Holland America, Princess and Royal Caribbean -- are listed above as offering both traditional assigned seating and open seating. These lines have at least two main dining rooms on most of their ships, and on each of these vessels, both traditional assigned seating and open seating are offered. At the time of booking, guests choose assigned (early or late) or open seating. Note: Celebrity's "Celebrity Select" (open seating) dining debuts in 2010. Also, Carnival's "Your Time" (open seating) dining is available on the following ships: Carnival Legend, Carnival Liberty, Carnival Sensation, Carnival Paradise, Carnival Miracle, Carnival Conquest, Carnival Elation, Carnival Fantasy, Carnival Spirit and Carnival Pride. This option will be available on all Carnival ships by summer 2010. The following ships offer assigned seating only: Celebrity Xpedition, Dawn Princess, Ocean Princess, Pacific Princess, Royal Princess and Sun Princess. The great majority of ships offer one or more "alternative" restaurants in addition to their main dining rooms, ranging from 24-hour buffets to high-end specialty restaurants. These alternative restaurants typically have open seating regardless of the main dining room's guidelines, though many require reservations (which are made onboard the ship) and there may be a per-person surcharge for specialty restaurants ranging from $8 to $30. For detailed information about the dining venues on any cruise line, click here. Our cruise counselors will also be happy to verify dining options available for any cruise. Here are all the best cruise deals worldwide in the next 90 days, organized by region: Africa Antarctica Asia Asia Cruise Tours Australia/New Zealand Australia/New Zealand Cruise Tours Bahamas Canary Islands Caribbean Disney World & Bahamas Cruises (Combination) Europe Cruise Tours Galapagos Hawaii Mediterranean Mexico/Central America Middle East Northern Europe Norway Panama Canal Repositioning River Cruises Tahiti/French Polynesia TransAtlantic Here are all the best cruise deals worldwide in the next 90 days, organized by cruise line: Azamara Carnival Celebrity Costa Cruise West Crystal Cunard Disney Fred. Olsen Cruise Line Holland America Hurtigruten MSC Cruises Norwegian Oceania Cruises P&O Cruises Princess Regent (Radisson) Royal Caribbean Seabourn SeaDream Silversea Star Clippers Uniworld Viking River Cruises Voyages of Discovery Windstar Here are today's Top 10 Cruises, brand new specials from the world's best cruiselines. Click the FastDeal # for details. 1) Caribbean, 7 nights on Costa Cruises, departs Fort Lauderdale Dec 12, starting at $299, save 78%, FastDeal # 12951 2) Mexico, 7 nights on Princess, departs Los Angeles Jan 9, starting at $349, save 72%, FastDeal # 23502 3) Mediterranean, 7 nights on Royal Caribbean, departs Barcelona Nov 22, starting at $349, FastDeal # 25690 (Royal Caribbean does not provide brochure rates for this cruise, so we are unable to show a savings percentage.) 4) Caribbean, 7 nights on Carnival, departs Miami Nov 22, starting at $399, save 76%, FastDeal # 19202 5) Panama Canal, 10 nights on Holland America, departs Fort Lauderdale Dec 13, starting at $749, save 65%, FastDeal # 17985 6) Hawaii, 7 nights on Norwegian, departs Honolulu Nov 21, starting at $499, save 82%, FastDeal # 13829 7) Caribbean, 10 nights on MSC Cruises, departs Fort Lauderdale Dec 10, starting at $599, save 60%, FastDeal # 11437 8) Bahamas, 7 nights on Carnival, departs Galveston Nov 15, starting at $499, save 70%, FastDeal # 18885 9) Caribbean, 7 nights on Windstar, departs Barbados Dec 6, oceanview starting at $999, save 64%, FastDeal # 13882 10) Alaska Cruise & Alaska Tour, 10 nights on Royal Caribbean, departs Vancouver May 21, starting at $1299, FastDeal # 23190 (Royal Caribbean does not provide brochure rates for this cruise, so we are unable to show a savings percentage.) For the best last-minute cruise specials in the next 90 days, click here. To search for discounts on cruises departing more than 90 days from now, click here. For escorted tours worldwide, or air/hotel packages to London or Paris, click here. For hotels in the Caribbean, Mexico, Hawaii, Bermuda or the Bahamas, click here. Para visitar a nuestro sitio web de cruceros en español, haga clic aquí. Once you've found a FASTDEAL, call us toll free at 800-338-4962 (US and Canada) and a cruise counselor will attend to your needs. Customers from the UK, please call toll free 0800 279 8084. All other international customers, please e-mail or call us at +1-713-974-2121. Please e-mail me your comments, suggestions and questions at alanfox@vacationstogo.com and I will respond the same day. To send one sample copy of this newsletter to a friend, click here. Sincerely, R. Alan Fox Chairman & CEO Vacations To Go